Methane hydrate formation in a test sediment of sand and clay at various levels of water saturation

Kinetics of methane hydrate formation with different ratios of silica sand and clay and different water saturations were studied. At suitable temperature and methane gas pressure, water in the void spaces of silica sand packing and intercalated area of clay were converted into hydrate. It was observed that the rate of hydrate formation increases with higher void space in the packing, and addition of clay in test sediment decreases water to hydrate conversion as well as rate of hydrate formation. Maximum water to hydrate conversion of 60.0% was achieved in pure silica sand bed at 75% water saturation. Presence of fine clay particles is expected to reduce the void spaces and thus may hinder effective mass transfer of hydrate forming gases in the bed. However, it is also possible that the bentonite clay used in this work may actually inhibit hydrate growth. Additional experiments in stirred tank reactor were carried out to understand the inhibiting effect of bentonite clay for hydrate formation.